Fundamentals About OSD
OSD stands for “On Screen Display”
In order to get OSD from the Flight Controller onto your VTX you must send the cameras video through the flight controller and back out to the VTX.
vid in / vid out
OSD in your FPV goggles comes from mainly two sources. Camera or built into your flight controller. Camera OSD is limited, usually showing main battery voltage, pilot name and a few others. OSD that comes from the flight controller is controlled in BetaFlight in the OSD tab. Most modern flight controllers have OSD built into the flight controllers.
Flight Controller OSD
In order to get OSD from the flight controller onto your VTX is by sending the cameras video through the flight controller and back out to the VTX.
This is done by wiring the video from your camera to VI (video in) or Cam pad and wiring your vtx to VO (video out) or VTX pad. The benefits of flight controller OSD is that it is easier to configure in BetaFlight with drag and drop.
Wiring Flight Controller OSD
Details of this drawing is below the image.
Wiring the Video Transmitter
The VTX has six wires in our example. This is not uncommon and is simpler than you think.
- 5V In – Red Wire – Wire to a 5v pad on flight controller
- Ground – Black Wire – Wire to any ground pad on flight controller
- 5V Out – Red Wire – (optional) – Wire to camera or anything that requires 5v
- Ground – Black Wire – Wire to any ground pad on flight controller
- VIDEO – Yellow Wire – Wire to VTX or Video Out pad on your flight controller for OSD
- Smart Audio – Purple Wire – Wire to a TX pad and then configure the UART in betaflight under ports as Smart Audio or the other. Primarily used to change VTX settings from OSD using radio.
Wiring the Camera
The camera needs at least three things. Power, Ground and a place to send the video.
- 5V Red Wire – Wire to any 5V pad on the flight controller or VTX that support 5v out
- Ground Black Wire – Ground to any ground pad on the flight controller
- Video Yellow Wire – Wire to the CAM (camera) or VI (video in) pad on the flight controller.
Configure Smart Audio In BetaFlight
Click on ports. Set the UART to your smart audio protocol. Either TBS Smart Audio or IRC Tramp. In the example below we are setting UART2 to TBS Smart audio. The only setting you need to make sure is enabled for smart audio on a UART is the peripherals. This is NOT a serialRX. Your UART for smart audio should look like the image below.
Configure OSD In BetaFlight
Once thats wired, connect to BetaFlight and go to configuration. Make sure that OSD is enabled. If not, enable, save and reboot. Get back into BetaFlight.
Click on the OSD tab.
Many options to choose from. Select the OSD items you wish and click save.
Can the second GND Pad on the Nano VTX connect directly to GND of the Camera? I don’t have enough GND Pads on my FC.
you can stack multiple grounds to a single ground pad.